Moves are afoot to allow a ?large number? of national team cricketers to become full-time ? at least until the end of the year.

In response to growing concern that the World Cup-bound players are not being adequately prepared for the rigours of top-flight international cricket because of work commitments and time constraints, Bermuda Cricket Board revealed yesterday they had begun talking to employers with the aim of freeing up many of the team?s key members until December and perhaps beyond.

National coach Gus Logie complained both before and after Bermuda?s humiliating Stanford 20-20 defeat to Jamaica last week that he simply had not had enough time to work with his players, adding that the situation would ?have to change soon? if the Island?s World Cup debut next year was not to end in utter embarrassment.

?Gus has submitted a list of players to us that he wants to have available on a full-time basis until at least the end of the year,? said BCB chief executive Neil Speight yesterday.

?We entirely appreciate the urgent need to try and make this happen and we are now in the process of working with the players and their employers to see whether this can be expedited.

?Up until now and with a couple of exceptions, it has only been possible to get the players totally off work for short periods, normally in the build-up to a tour. We are fully aware of the national coach?s concerns and we?re doing our utmost to accommodate what he thinks he needs in order to prepare the players properly.?

Responding to criticism from some quarters that they should have anticipated the need for professional players far earlier, Speight insisted that the Board?s detractors did not fully understand the complexity of the situation.

?What has to be appreciated, I think, is that getting the players off work to concentrate fully on cricket is a very complicated and time-consuming process. It?s not just about the money.

?Each player?s circumstances are different so we have to deal with it on a case by case basis. Clearly, any player who gives up their job for a number of months has got to be certain in his own mind that the job will still be there for him when he eventually goes back. So it is a case of the Board and the player working with the employer to ensure this is the case.

?It?s also got to be established whether a particular employer can afford to do without one of their employees for a long period of time. That might be possible for a large company, but for a few of the players who work with smaller businesses it just might not be feasible.

?So it?s a bit of a balancing act and we cannot simply click our fingers and make the move to professional players overnight. It will take a little bit of time to get right.?

Sports Minister Dale Butler said earlier this week that the full-versus-part-time dilemma would be top of the agenda at the monthly meeting between himself and the BCB next week.

He stressed, however, that he would play no part in the final decision.

?I?ve had a lot of calls about the cricket and about nine out of ten of those are from members of the public about the need for us to make the players full-time,? he said.

?But it is not our decision to make. We will be meeting with the Board to talk about it again and see what they believe the need is and then myself and the Premier and this department will do what we can to help.?